A 28-YEAR-OLD man died after a mineshaft collapsed at Lawrence Mine, Makwe in Gwanda, Matabeleland South province.
Provincial police spokesperson Inspector Loveness Mangena identified the deceased as Jetro Nyathi. She said the accident happened on Friday last week while Nyathi was conducting illegal mining activities in the company of two others.
“On September 1, Nyathi got into a mineshaft about six metres deep and started panning for gold. The shaft collapsed and trapped him,” she said.
“He had gone with his two friends who then sought assistance from others and removed him already dead. The matter was reported to the police.”
The developments come a few weeks after several miners died at Inyathi Mine in Matabeleland North when a mineshaft also collapsed. “We urge members of the public to do their mining activities from legal mines as engaging in illegal mining is not only risky but a criminal offence,” Mangena said.
According to an Environmental Management Agency sample survey conducted this year at 49 illegal mining sites across Zimbabwe, approximately 1 000 hectares have been degraded due to illegal mining.
